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Galapagos gains

Published 6 December 2006

From
Victoria Todd

Your report on the Galapagos was mostly negative about the impact of tourism on the wildlife of this exceptional archipelago (14 October, p 8). In 1995, I spent six months on the islands working as a volunteer research scientist.

At that time it was not tourism that was the problem for wildlife, but corruption within the navy, and among government officials and numerous politicians, in concert with increasing over-exploitation of marine resources – such as shark fins, sea cucumbers, sea horses, lobster and grouper – by local fishers. Ten years on, has much changed?